The 2022 Malbec Argentino combines destemmed fruit from Lunlunta's Angélica Vineyard and Nicasia Vineyard in Altamira, and it was fermented with whole clusters. It leads with a rich, savory, black-fruited nose, introducing a similarly assertive and voluptuous palate. It concludes with a lush, staining and drying finish that retains the fine-grained precision that runs through the Catena Zapata roster.

It is difficult to avoid hyperbole when discussing the Catena family's impact on Argentine wine. It is the rare wine-producing country that can rightfully assign such an outsized contribution to the success of one producer that would propel the success of the wines of an entire nation. Equally remarkable is the relatively brief time scale on which such a global phenomenon has occurred, spanning just three generations from its founding in 1908.

The plethora of Catena bottlings ranges from entry-level, widely distributed supermarket SKUs to site-specific gems under the Catena Zapata heading. Their relentless progress and expansion have occurred alongside a parallel endeavor to utilize science for terroir analysis, viticultural planning and winemaking practices through the Catena Wine Institute. Among others, their analysis of Gualtallary's Adrianna Vineyard exemplifies the importance of an informed perspective on terroir, central to closing the gap between the merely good and truly great wines of the world. Catena occupies a remarkably rare position in the wine world as a producer that can be aptly described as both a juggernaut and an artisanal, intentional student of their vineyards.

Winemaking director Alejandro Vigil is a bona fide celebrity winemaker—locally referred to as "The Messi of Wine"—and judging by the two hours I spent walking the Chachingo wine fair with him, the fandom I observed must be comparable to strolling a music trade show in the presence of Mick Jagger. Perhaps most impressive of all is the grace, care and unadulterated passion for wine that he relentlessly displays. As for the wines themselves, his reputation precedes him at each turn and each price point: as referential as the famed Parcelas bottlings from Adrianna Vineyard undoubtedly are, the entry-level Catena wines struck me as nearly equally impressive in their own right, each precisely summarizing their varieties and origins with equally yolked precision across the range.